Tag: Franco

SPAIN BOOK REVIEW: ‘The Spanish Civil War: A Very Short Introduction’ by Helen Graham

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Amid the many catastrophes of the twentieth century, the Spanish Civil War continues to exert a particular fascination among history buffs and the lay-reader alike. This Very Short Introduction integrates the political, social and cultural history of the Spanish Civil War. It sets out the domestic and international context of the war for a general readership. In addition to tracing the course of war, the book locates the war’s origins in the cumulative social and cultural anxieties provoked by a process of rapid, uneven and accelerating modernism taking place all over Europe. This shared context is key to the continued sense of the war’s importance. The book also examines the myriad of political polemics to which the war has given rise, as well as all of the latest historical debates. It assesses the impact of the war on Spain’s transition to democracy and on the country’s contemporary political culture.

Cover and blurb via Amazon

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The Oxford University Press has a series of short introductions to a vast array of subjects, and the Spanish Civil War version has been put together by Helen Graham, a professor at Royal Halloway, University of London. Putting together a short book on a massive subject would be no easy task. But when Paul Preston hails a book as ‘far and away the best short introduction to the Spanish Civil War’, the praise doesn’t get any higher. If a reader wished to start learning about the war, reaching for a hefty Preston, Thomas, or Beevor tome could be daunting, and the subject can drive even the most knowledgeable person to distraction.

A Very Short Introduction is cut into seven sections. The book lays out the foundation in a short slice, no easy task, and dedicates a chapter to the early days of the war, explaining the reality of executions on both sides of the conflict and the vigilante-style operations Spain was running in the quest for power and freedom. The book manages to cover Franco’s rise to prominence through a combination of will and luck, as well as how Spain was won through the help of Hitler and Mussolini. With all these aspects, and the huge array of groups pushing their own agendas, the war is impossible to simplify, yet the book gives the initial details without overwhelming readers. A Very Short Introduction lays out the people, the major events, the reality of Spain at the time, everything needed to help a newbie understand why Spain collapsed the way it did in 1936.

This book is written in a simple style, without a strong voice but rather an academic view of the facts. This book has drawn criticism, especially from being marked as biased (which I dared to read), and, 1 ) being unbiased about a Spanish Civil War is nigh impossible, and 2 ) those decrying the book as biased and rabidly left-wing seem to be free and easy with the facts themselves. The book may not jump up and down with a passion, and that is not its purpose; it is a clear and simplified version a horrendously difficult subject, and perfect for its initial goal. A Very Short Introduction was promised and delivered.

SPAIN BOOK REVIEW: ‘Defence of Madrid’ by Geoffrey Cox

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COX

Goodies and baddies take some sorting out in this tale of the siege of Madrid by Franco’s right-wing forces supported by the Nazis and the fascist regime of Mussolini (the ‘rebels’), against the civilian population and its government representatives, just elected, who happened to be left-wing. Once sorted, Cox’s account of the city under attack, in one of the twentieth century’s first urban wars, has all too many echoes today. This new edition, with an introduction and selection of historical photographs, as well as samples of Cox’s journalism from the front, will confirm its position as one of the classics of twentieth-century reportage. Foreword  by Paul Preston, introduction by Michael O’Shaugnessy.

Cover and blurb for 70th anniversary edition from Amazon

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Geoffrey Cox’s Defence of Madrid (1937, republished in 2006) is the New Zealander’s eyewitness account of his time in Madrid from October to December 1936, during the siege of the city. In this brief six-week stint, Cox managed to see the fighting in Casa del Campo, the battles at the university and the bombing of everyday civilians.

Born in New Zealand’s South Island in 1910, Cox moved to study at Oxford in 1932 after a tour through Europe. With Europe under dramatic change in this time, he studied the political state of the continent, including spending time in a Nazi youth camp. Soon, journalism took over his desire for an academic life. In 1936, the News Chronicle had their Madrid-based correspondent taken hostage by Franco’s rebels, and a replacement was needed – Geoffrey Cox had the opportunity no one else wanted.

Defence of Madrid is a stark and honest account of Madrid during those early months of the war as Franco’s forces marched unabated through Spain. Cox landed in Madrid prepared for the rebel’s onslaught, only to land in a city in wait, a city far more complex than imagined, given the social and political state. Cox started writing down his account as soon as he arrived, every sight and sound recorded. Almost immediately, his account was being broadcast, as one of just two British correspondents holed up in the city. Cox soon became immersed in the air of Madrid and was the first writer of explain to the world what it felt like to be part of the war, and what everyday people were feeling and experiencing. The combination of the turmoil and collective desires to defend Madrid were published by Cox, who quickly became recognised as a good judge of character. While in Spain for just six weeks, Cox managed to cover major events before any other – covering the assault on the university and Casa del Campo as the Republicans fought back Franco’s army, honest accounts of the aerial bombings and covered the arrival of foreign volunteers in Spain to help the cause.

Defence of Madrid is the first in a long line of books by Cox, who went on to cover World War II and much more. The book is written with total honesty, a lack of bias, seen through eyes destined to tell the truth. Any author would be proud to be able to produce such work. New Zealanders participated in all aspects of the Spanish Civil War, most totally unrecognised. Geoffrey Cox should not ever be one of these.

SPAIN BOOK REVIEW: ‘Franco: Biography of the Myth’ by Antonio Cazorla Sánchez

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Antonio Cazorla Sanchez

General Francisco Franco, also called the Caudillo, was the dictator of Spain from 1939 until his death in 1975. His life has been examined in many previous biographies. However, most of these have been traditional, linear biographies that focus on Franco’s military and political careers, neglecting the significance of who exactly Franco was for the millions of Spaniards over whom he ruled for almost forty years.

In this new biography Antonio Cazorla Sánchez looks at Franco from a fresh perspective, emphasizing the cultural and social over the political. Cazorla Sánchez’s Franco uses previously unknown archival sources to analyse how the dictator was portrayed by the propaganda machine, how the opposition tried to undermine his prestige, and what kind of opinions, rumours and myths people formed of him, and how all these changed over time. The author argues that the collective construction of Franco’s image emerged from a context of material needs, the political traumas caused by the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), the complex cultural workings of a society in distress, political manipulation, and the lack of any meaningful public debate. Cazorla Sánchez’s Franco is a study of Franco’s life as experienced and understood by ordinary people; by those who loved or admired him, by those who hated or disliked him, and more generally, by those who had no option but to accommodate their existence to his rule.

The book has a significance that goes well beyond Spain, as Cazorla Sánchez explores the all-too-common experience of what it is like to live under the deep shadow cast by an always officially praised, ever-present, and long-lasting dictator.

Cover art and blurb from amazon

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I saw Franco: Biography of a Myth on the shelf and grabbed it while collecting other Franco books. Reading the little blurb on the back cover which states the book is part of a series of ‘engaging, readable and academically credible biographies’, I thought it would be worth a read. Then I read the chapters headings – Military Hero, Saviour of Spain, Man of Peace, Moderate Ruler, Bestower of Prosperity…. and I wondered what I had stumble onto. No one, other than those, let’s say, fanatical about Franco would use any of the terms to describe a man who killed and controlled with enjoyment. It was going to be hard to give a decent review after reading just the contents pages.

Biography of a Myth starts off with a an introduction, an overview of the man himself, and facts and perceptions of his rule. An excerpt from the book of Luis Bolin, Spain’s once-tourism minister, shows how opinion of Franco was perceived by those who believed in him – His ambition was to serve. All thoughts were for the people. He wished to improve the lot of the working man and the position of the middle classes, both of which had so many times been deceived by Republican promises…. This about a man who condoned the swift punishment of said people in the south of Spain, in an example detailed just one page earlier. This is a book written not from simply the facts, but the facts as they were handed down to the people.

The first chapter tells of Franco’s time in the army, not just as a man good at what he did, but as a man of opportunistic timing. The chapter talks of right up until the day civil war began, with Franco’s ‘crude opportunism’ and through a series of accidents, how his name would quickly become feared, when it could have easily been another man leading the charge in war. The second chapter tells of the civil war from the Nationalists point to view as Franco swept through the country, and how the propaganda machine was already at work. Franco’s name was kept out of stories where possible, instead focusing on others, or local heroes in publications. Once he was proclaimed Head of the Spanish State and Commander and Chief of the Army did the news stories change, to anoint him the illustrious Caudillo General Franco. People could only believe what they heard and all that was carefully planned. Each story on his victories was selected and mistakes neatly erased. History was already being written by those who decided what the future would believe. The book also touches on the sanitised versions of events printed in international news.

The book goes on to talk of the delicate peace created after the civil war. With starvation of the traumatised public, and corruption and ineptitude, these things didn’t hurt Franco, as underlings took the blame. Publications in ensuing years, including a 1947 article which claimed Franco had too been a victim of the Nazis, helped to preserve Franco’s prestige. The years described in chapter four, through the fifties and sixties, describes Franco as ‘a walking skeleton that refused to go into the closet of European history.’ Franco needed American and European opinion to sway in his favour, and propaganda was written to suit. As a result, through trade and negotiations, Spain was allowed to flourish, all based on what people knew of the man himself. The chapter titled ‘Moderate Ruler’ may ring true if you consider Franco a man with absolute power, and no idea what to do with it.

Chapter five talks of the calmer years under Franco’s reign as the country began to prosper, and his belief he had a successor in the form of Prince Juan Carlos, who would carry on his vision after his death. But with factions starting to speak out in the mid to late sixties, such as ETA, Franco’s grip on the nation, and the opinion of the people, started to wane.  Only with his death in 1975 did opinion change as new stories would emerge, giving a more realistic picture of Franco and his reign, as freedom to discuss the past opened wide. Perceptions are also opened, with details of publications made since his death, of who wrote what and why, and what perceptions are like today, based on propaganda.

When I started reading this book, I thought I was going to get a mouthful of Franco love, but Biography of a Myth is not that straight-forward. It swings between those who loved and hated Franco, though does brush over atrocities at an astounding rate (perhaps because it could be a subject for another book). The information on Franco is not new; anyone who knows anything of Franco’s history will find themselves in common territory. This book does spear off in a new direction, away from the likes of Paul Preston’s magnificent biography, but would make a good read for anyone looking for a different point of view. This book doesn’t talk about Franco from one side or the other, it talks of Franco through perceptions during his reign. In the end, the book tells us something we all know – history is the opinion of the winners.

13 September 1974: The Bombing of Cafetería Rolando

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2014 is the 40th anniversary of the bombing of Cafetería Rolando in Madrid. The attack was a significant event in the fight against Francoism and a defining moment in the ETA’s struggle for independence. I first learned about Cafetería Rolando several years ago, and it forms part of my upcoming book, Death in Valencian Dust. In posting this, I do not endorse either side of the ETA struggle, merely recognise the struggle Spain suffered in the 1970’s.

In 1974, to say Spain was at a crossroads would be an understatement. In December 1973, Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco, Spain’s Government President was assassinated by ETA (Basque – Euskadi Ta Askatasuna, Spanish – País Vasco y Libertad, English – Basque Homeland and Freedom), the Basque Country separatist group. For years, ETA had been carrying out attacks and killings around Spain, while other groups started to rise up against the government. In 1974, new Government President Carlos Arias Navarro set up new rules during the spirit of 12 February, keeping in line with Franco’s harsh regime of times past, covering everything from stopping freedom of the press, restriction to the judicial systems, harsh penalties for strikers and protesters, and generally restricting the lives of everyone in the country, everyone outside the búnker, the group of extreme right-wing people surrounding Franco.

The state of the nation deteriorated throughout the year – the church increasingly voiced their opposition to Franco and the regime, the execution of anarchist Catalan Salvador Puig Antich brought people to the streets in protest, the economy slumped, the Communist party mobilised in defense of their sympathisers, workers continued to strike, and universities protested the new draconian laws. Franco himself was seriously ill, and Juan Carlos, his protegé, was taking over all tasks on his behalf. The Portuguese dictatorship collapsed, giving Spaniards more ideas of what they could achieve for themselves. On September 11, 1974, Arias Navarro re-endorsed his changes and announced efforts would double to enforce new laws over the rising tide of anger.

Cafetería Rolando, at 4 Calle del Correos (known as E street), was located in the heart of Madrid, directly off Puerta de Sol. Cafetería Rolando was a large and popular cafe, the local spot for police to visit during their lunch breaks, conveniently located beside the headquarters of the Dirección General de Seguridad (General Directorate of Security) in the famous Real Casa de Correos building. The Dirección General de Seguridad was considered an impenetrable target by ETA and other organisations keen to bring down the regime. Because nearby Cafetería Rolando was so popular with police working nearby, the place became destined for disaster.

 Real Casa de Correos (Cafetería Rolando was to the right of this shot) – Source

On September 13, 1974, at 2.35pm, during a busy lunchtime, a bomb exploded at the entrance to the cafe. The bomb, thirty kilos of dynamite filled with nuts for shrapnel, went off as many enjoyed their lunch, and was large enough to cause serious structural damage to the five-storey building. The ceiling of the café collapsed, resulting in several of the hostel guests upstairs falling into the café. The blast was big enough to shatter the windows of the Real Casa de Correos across the tiny street and several cars were obliterated. Another restaurant, a large place with 300 seated guests next door, was also seriously damaged.

Because of the proximity to the security building, police were on the scene immediately, and the process of saving Cafetería Rolando diners began. An attack of this magnitude, on a place frequented by everyday people, hadn’t been undertaken since the Civil War, catching all by surprise. Seventy-one people were pulled alive from the rubble, several children. Most victims made a full recovery, though several were left with scarring and mutilation. In total, twelve people were killed, aged from 20 to 78 years old, including a just-married couple. Several café workers were killed, including one who was pulled alive from the rubble but died before surgery. While the attack was allegedly against the police, and several wounded were police and from Franco’s elite special forces, the rest killed were all civilians. A thirteenth victim, a police officer, died two years later from the attack, unable to survive the injuries he sustained.

Cafetería Rolando 1974 – elpais.com
Cafetería Rolando 1974
Cafetería Rolando 1974 – generalisimofranco.com
Cafetería Rolando 1974 – elpais.com
Cafetería Rolando 1974 – estoeseta.wordpress.com
Cafetería Rolando 1974 – abc.es

Source

The list of the dead only fueled speculation of the bombing. As no police officers were listed among the dead, a theory sprang up that a division of the extreme right themselves planted the bomb. Police earlier that day had been told to avoid the café, but these rumours were never directly admitted. Franco was keen to catch whomever had committed the act, while others, both for and against the government, took the opportunity to criticise the regime, plus Arias Navarro himself, and the búnker, the powerful political families. Everyone had an agenda for establishing blame. The Communist party became a popular target for criticism, initially blamed for the events.

Soon, blame fell on ETA from the Basque Country. They had been killing policemen and guards sporadically since 1968, one just days before the bombing. ETA denied any knowledge of the Cafetería Rolando attack, though throughout Spain, the denial wasn’t taken seriously. Because of the high number of killed and wounded were merely civilians at lunch, both sides of the political fence wanted to see justice done. The assassination of Carrero Blanco less than a year earlier didn’t raise tempers, but the attack on the café brought ETA’s organisation more into the spotlight than ever before.

Famous Basque activist, writer, women rights campaigner and ETA supporter Eva Forest was arrested along with her husband, though her husband was soon released. Forest refused to co-operate and accused the police of ill-treatment during her detainment. It was alleged two Basques, a man and a woman, planted the bomb in Cafetería Rolando, sticking the bomb to the underside of a table, and set off the timer. The identity of those two Basques were never established. It could have been Forest and her husband, playwright Alfonso Sastre, but there was no proof. While many detained in connection to Cafetería Rolando and the Carrero Blanco assassination were released, Forest was kept in prison until 1977, when all political prisoners accused under the Franco regime were given amnesty, to smooth the way for democracy under the new King Juan Carlos. It was rumoured that Forest suffered terribly being in jail, being tortured for all her acts over the years. While Forest admitted to passing on ETA messages and helping with safe houses, she never admitted her part in the Rolando bombing, despite admissions from others in the plot. 

Because of the 1977 amnesty, no one was ever held accountable for the Cafetería Rolando bombing, and no one can never be convicted of any crime relating to the incident.

Calle del Correo Madrid
Calle del Correo Madrid

Calle del Correo today – Source

Victims of Cafetería Rolando 13 September 1974

Antonio Alonso Palacín, mechanic, and his new wife, María Jesús Arcos Tirado, telephone operator aged 28

Francisca Baeza Alarcón, teacher aged 45

Baldomero Barral Fernández, baker aged 24, and his wife María Josefina Pérez Martínez, mother of two aged 21

Antonio Lobo Aguado, railway worker aged 55

Luis Martínez Marín, businessman aged 78

Concepción Pérez Paino, Dirección General de Seguridad admin worker aged 65

María Ángeles Rey Martínez, student aged 20

Gerardo García Pérez, married father of three

Francisco Gómez Vaquero, Cafetería Rolando chef aged 31 

Manuel Llanos Gancedo, waiter at Cafetería Rolando aged 26

Félix Ayuso Pinel, police inspector aged 46. Pinel didn’t die until 1977.

CalledelCorreo(Madrid)

Source

 Here is a link to the news footage of the bombing in 1974 – Atentado etarra en la calle madrileña del Correo (1974)

Valencia Photos of the Month: The Valencian Gate Series – Puerta del Mar / Puerta del Real

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Today, the Puerta del Mar (Gate to the Sea) sits in Plaza Porta de la Mar, in a roundabout connecting six roads, including where the glorious Calle Colón meets its end against the Turia. But this gate has a long history.

Puerta del Real (Royal Gate) was the entrance to the city from Puente del Real, one of the city’s historical bridges. The eastern part of the wall around the city was built in 1574, when worries about Turkish attacks began. In 1599, the open entrance to the city was moved to align perfectly with the bridge, when the wedding of King Felipe III was held in Valencia’s cathedral. This gate was the main entrance through to Valencia’s palaces for the wealthy, and stood in place until the bridge and gate needed repairs in 1801 (as in seen the photos below) when the gate was totally replaced in limestone and widened for convenience. The Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Carlos held a design competition, which chose the new design seen in the photos. They built three arches, and in the centre engraved Reinando Carlos IV y Maria Luisa de Borbón. Año 1801 (Reigning Charles IV and Maria Luisa of Bourbon. Year 1801), along with the shield of the city on top. In keeping with the epic stupidity that saw the walls around the city pulled down in 1868, this gate was also destroyed.

Roll over the photos/drawings for their dates

1500’s
1801
1801

In 1945, the replica of the Puerta del Real was built, but named Puerta del Mar. The replica’s new physical location (in then Plaza del Marqués de Estella) is the site of the original Puerta del Mar, rather than the Puerta del Real. During this time, Spain was in isolation after their civil war and then ugly neutrality of the Second World War, so the reconstruction of the 1801 design became a postwar icon. The new addition to the gate is the cross in the centre, a symbol to those killed during the Spanish Civil War. One one side they engraved – Este monvmento encuentra en mvralla antigva pverta mar de la fundación y es reprodvcción exacta pverta llamar a la real que era sitvuada frente de pvente sv nombre y fve construidas en 1801 y demolido en el 1868 (This monument is located on the foundations of the Puerta del Mar and is a reproduction of the Puerta del Real, built in 1801 and demolished in 1868). One the other side was engraved –  Francisco Franco Bahamonde Hispanium moderating valentinus senatus ad memoriam perpetuam deo qui vitam ed homeland devoverint hoc monumentum erexitanno (The Valenciano senate erected this monument to Francisco Franco Bahamonde, alderman (regidor in Spanish, I think, like a council) of Spain to perpetuate the memory of which he offered his life for God and Country.) This ode of Franco is currently covered over, but remains on the gate, in line with the historical memory laws of getting rid of all things Franco.

2007
2007
2013
2013

I don’t remember even taking these photos but they were tucked away in my archive. Three show the side where the Franco love is covered, the other shows the pretty Valencia shield garden side.

The original Puerta del Mar was a gate which pointed directly to the sea and was not on the riverbed itself like Puerta del Real. It led directly to the Convento de Santo Domingo, which is situated close to the new replica gate. During its time, the gate was connected to the convent, a citadel, a palace and weapons storage, and bore the shield of the city. The design and detail was similar to the Puerta del Real, and because the 20th century replica bears its name, the two gates can be easily confused. (In the first picture below, both gates can be seen, Puerta del Real at the bridge, and Puerta del Mar to the left)

1858
1800
1600
1704

The Puerta del Mar, a replica of the Puerta del Real, but put in the original place of a whole different gate, taking its name, but not actually having anything to do with the gate whose name it took. Yes, that wasn’t confusing at all.